Become your own Doctor

Our health system is set up to care for only a small number of patients at any given time. During an emergency most facilities are quickly over ran and unable to deal with the influx of wounded received. The Oklahoma City Bombing, LA Riots and a number of recent natural disasters have demonstrated this fact very well. You will most likely be on your own.

Formal Training

The first step is education and training. Taking a First-Aid / CPR class is the absolute minimum training every survivor should have, and should be the first step taken to becoming as medically independent as possible. Home nursing / home health care and Paramedic / EMT classes are well worth the effort, and will take you well beyond the knowledge level of the average first aid class.

Book Learning

We can learn a lot on our own from books and independent study. There are many good books available to the survivalist; I recommend, Where there is no Doctor, Where there is no Dentist, The American Red Cross first-aid and safety handbook, The Physician’s Desk Reference, The Merck manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Ship’s Medicine Chest, U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook. There are many others but this is a good starting point to a complete medical library for the survivalist.

Prevention

The best medicine is prevention. Personal hygiene and proper sanitation are the first defense to maintaining good health and preventing disease. Keeping clean and washing your hands often goes a long toward the prevention of transmittable disease. Most people are rather nasty. I have, on several occasions witnessed this with people using public restrooms. They go in crap, get up leave never washing their hands, acting like it is no big deal. Everything they touch is contaminated, if you come alone and touch the object, and touch your face, well you know… Keep your hands clean and avoid touching your face.

In the 1800’s thousands of people became sick or died from dysentery. The bacteria from outhouses had polluted the drinking water. Clean drinking water is a must for maintaining good health. Guardia, bacteria, viruses and other nasty stuff is present in most water sources. Invest in a good water filter and avoid drinking from water sources that you are unsure of.

Healthy Diet

Eating correctly is very important to maintaining good health. Avoiding salt, sugar and fatty cuts of meat will be of great help in keeping healthy. The old saying we are what we eat, holds true and is very important to health and survival.

Exercise

Take a walk. Walking for at least 30 minutes a day, according to studies, is as effective, as running for the same amount of time, and with less strain, on the joints and less stress on the shins and feet. Everyday I try to get in a walk, stretch and perform a set of push-ups and set-ups. Every little bit helps even 15 minutes of brisk activity a day will put you ahead of most. But first you need to get off the couch.

Supplements

Make sure you are getting the proper amount of vitamins and minerals. I take the one source ultimate men’s from Wal-Mart as well as an extra 500 mg of vitamin C and two spoon tablespoons of flex seed oil everyday.

Getting in and maintaining good health is just as important to survival plans, as guns and ammo. After all if you are sick or wounded, without proper treatment or the knowledge to treat yourself, you have lost the battle already.